@misc{NeyretLeProvostBoesingetal., author = {Neyret, Margot and Le Provost, Ga{\"e}tane and Boesing, Andrea Larissa and Schneider, Florian D. and Baulechner, Dennis and Bergmann, Joana and Vries, Franciska T. de and Fiore-Donno, Anna Maria and Geisen, Stefan and Goldmann, Kezia and Merges, Anna and Saifutdinov, Ruslan A. and Simons, Nadja K. and Tobias, Joseph A. and Zaitsev, Andrey S. and Gossner, Martin M. and Jung, Kirsten and Kandeler, Ellen and Krauss, Jochen and Penone, Caterina and Schloter, Michael and Schulz, Stefanie and Staab, Michael and Wolters, Volkmar and Apostolakis, Antonios and Birkhofer, Klaus and Boch, Steffen and Boeddinghaus, Runa S. and Bolliger, Ralph and Bonkowski, Michael and Buscot, Fran{\c{c}}ois and Dumack, Kenneth and Fischer, Markus and Gan, Huei Ying and Heinze, Johannes and H{\"o}lzel, Norbert and John, Katharina and Klaus, Valentin H. and Kleinebecker, Till and Marhan, Sven and M{\"u}ller, J{\"o}rg and Renner, Swen C. and Rillig, Matthias C. and Schenk, No{\"e}lle V. and Sch{\"o}ning, Ingo and Schrumpf, Marion and Seibold, Sebastian and Socher, Stephanie A. and Solly, Emily F. and Teuscher, Miriam and Kleunen, Mark van and Wubet, Tesfaye and Manning, Peter}, title = {A slow-fast trait continuum at the whole community level in relation to land-use intensification}, series = {Nature Communications}, volume = {15}, journal = {Nature Communications}, number = {1}, issn = {2041-1723}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-024-45113-5}, abstract = {AbstractOrganismal functional strategies form a continuum from slow- to fast-growing organisms, in response to common drivers such as resource availability and disturbance. However, whether there is synchronisation of these strategies at the entire community level is unclear. Here, we combine trait data for 2800 above- and belowground taxa from 14 trophic guilds spanning a disturbance and resource availability gradient in German grasslands. The results indicate that most guilds consistently respond to these drivers through both direct and trophically mediated effects, resulting in a 'slow-fast' axis at the level of the entire community. Using 15 indicators of carbon and nutrient fluxes, biomass production and decomposition, we also show that fast trait communities are associated with faster rates of ecosystem functioning. These findings demonstrate that 'slow' and 'fast' strategies can be manifested at the level of whole communities, opening new avenues of ecosystem-level functional classification.}, language = {en} } @misc{LeimerBernerBirkhoferetal., author = {Leimer, Sophia and Berner, Doreen and Birkhofer, Klaus and Boeddinghaus, Runa S.}, title = {Land-use intensity and biodiversity effects on infiltration rates and hydraulic conductivity of grassland soils in southern Germany}, series = {Ecohydrology}, volume = {14}, journal = {Ecohydrology}, number = {6}, issn = {1936-0584}, doi = {10.1002/eco.2301}, abstract = {Evidence from experimental and established grasslands indicates that plant biodiversity can modify the water cycle. One suspected mechanism behind this is a higher infiltration capacity (νB) and hydraulic conductivity (K) of the soil on species-rich grasslands. However, in established and agriculturally managed grasslands, biodiversity effects cannot be studied independent of land-use effects. Therefore, we investigated in established grassland systems how land-use intensity and associated biodiversity of plants and soil animals affect νB and K at and close to saturation. On 50 grassland plots along a land-use intensity gradient in the Biodiversity Exploratory Schw{\"a}bische Alb, Germany, we measured νB with a hood infiltrometer at several matrix potentials and calculated the saturated and unsaturated K. We statistically analysed the relationship between νB or K and land-use information (e.g., fertilising intensity), abiotic (e.g., soil texture) and biotic data (e.g., plant species richness, earthworm abundance). Land-use intensity decreased and plant species richness increased νB and K, while the direction of the effects of soil animals was inconsistent. The effect of land-use intensity on νB and K was mainly attributable to its negative effect on plant species richness. Our results demonstrate that plant species richness was a better predictor of νB and K at and close to saturation than land-use intensity or soil physical properties in the established grassland systems of the Schw{\"a}bische Alb.}, language = {en} }